Livestock entrepreneurs will submit a letter to Vice President Myint Swe to review the bank interest rates for their SME loans as they are higher than 20 percent, said Dr Toe Nandar Tin, vice president of Myanmar Fisheries Federation.

If a breeder seeks a SME loan of K100 million, he receives only K80 million. Then, he needs to pay 19 percent interest for K80 million and 6 percent interest for K20 million that he has to keep in the bank. Loan seekers therefore face losses, she commented.

"They have to pay over 20 percent interest rate. I think banks are posing obstacles to our efforts for SME development. Interest rates should not be beyond the rules and regulations adopted by the State. If we loan K100 million, we get K80 million only and K20 million is for interest. This is meaningless," said Dr Toe Nandar Tin.

She pointed out that under the Myanmar Central Bank Law, bans had been instructed not to take more than 16 percent interest rate.

"That should not be so. Review is necessary. Foreign banks want to enter the country. But there are such obstacles. We will ask the Central Bank how to plan so we can see foreign investment," she added.